Grading and Grade Point Average Computation

Grading Overview

Grades are assigned by the course instructor based on an evaluation of each student’s progression towards meeting course objectives as defined in the grading requirements section of the course’s syllabus. Final grades must be submitted in the grading portlet by the corresponding final grade submission deadline, typically 7 days after the end of the course.  Additional information about specific grades are available in the Auditing a Course , Course Withdrawal , Incomplete and Credit Pending Grades  policies.

Grading Matrix

The following matrix shows the complete list of grades with clarification which are assigned by instructors, which appear on an official transcript, and which are considered in various credit totals and GPA calculations.   Of note, grades of D+, D, and D- are not available in the grading scale for graduate courses (e.g., C- is the lowest passing grade in the grading scale for graduate courses.)

Grade Point Average Computation

A semester and updated cumulative grade point average (GPA) is calculated each semester in which a student is enrolled. GPA calculations are computed by dividing the number of quality points earned by the number of GPA hours for the corresponding courses.  Quality points can be determined by multiplying each eligible course’s credit total by the number of grade points associated with the letter grade earned in that course and adding them together while GPA hours are the total number of attempted credits for courses that generate grade points. 

In cases where a course is repeated, the grade points from the most recent repeat attempt of the course will replace those of the previous attempt regardless of whether the most recent repeat attempt resulted in a higher or lower grade than the previous attempt.  Because there are no additional credits added to the GPA hours when a course is repeated, the previous attempt is no longer factored into the computation of quality points or the GPA.

GPA Computation Example: